Great Lakes Mackinac 2019 ESI Hydrography Polygons and Lines

The Straits of Mackinac and adjacent portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are represented by vector lines and polygons for shoreline and hydrography. This data characterizes the coastal environment's sensitivity to oil spills, created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a 2019 study. It includes layers for hydrography polygons (land/water) and lines (structures like piers and breakwaters).

Use Cases

• Map shoreline sensitivity to oil spills based on the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework.
• Identify man-made coastal structures for risk assessment based on features like breakwaters and piers.
• Delineate land and water boundaries for habitat mapping based on the hydrography polygon layer.

Strengths

• Data is produced by the authoritative National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• Includes two complementary geospatial layers: polygons for shoreline and lines for specific structures.
• Focuses on a defined study area covering the Straits of Mackinac and parts of two Great Lakes.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is in PDF format, which is non-standard for geospatial analysis and may require conversion.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Created for the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) study.

Time Range

2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026 03 13 22:23:11.816891; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Straits of Mackinac, nearby portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and adjacent lands and waters in northern Michigan.